Repeated hepatic resection combined with inferior vena cava replacement: Case report and review of literature

INTRODUCTION: Advanced tumors of the liver involving the inferior vena cava (IVC) have always been considered a contraindication to surgery. PRESENTATION OF CASE: We report a case of a patient, who previously underwent right hepatectomy, with recurrence of colorectal liver metastasis invading the IVC. The patient had a liver resection together with replacement of the vena cava using a ringed polytetrafluoroethylene (PTFE) graft tube. The operation was carried out in hepatic vascular exclusion (HVE) without the use of veno-venous bypass. The patient was healthy and tumor-free at 6 months post-surgery. DISCUSSION: In patients with hepatic malignancy involving the IVC, extended hepatic resection and reconstruction of the IVC is often the prerequisite to obtaining a resection margin. CONCLUSION: Extended hepatic resection with IVC reconstruction for hepatic malignancy may offer a chance of cure to selected patients who otherwise have poor survival rates.